Public Space

My paternal great-grandparents, who were legal U.S. residents, emigrated back to their native México during the Great Depression. Their son, my Abuelo (grandfather) who was born in San Antonio, became a U.S. immigrant to México at seventeen. Time passed and fate would again intervene when my father, a chronic asthmatic learned of a place where he could live […]

Superior is a town in transition; a yet to be completed work, a town struggling to grow into itself. Nestled at the base of the picturesque Apache Leap and surrounded by the eastern foothills of the Superstitions, Superior seems ideally suited to live up to to its inherent promise – a former mining town all […]

As a post-war city characterized by suburban development, Phoenix largely lacks the categories of public space which exist in older American cities. The design of streets, plazas, and squares is informed by reliance of Phoenix residents on vehicles and air-conditioning, two factors which reduce opportunities for social interaction within the public land and spaces of […]

The canal network that flows through Phoenix, the basis for the metropolis itself, offers the city a chance to sustain green neighborhoods in the interior of the city, agriculture at its periphery and perhaps a place for public life and space in the future. Looking back, the canal banks, lined by Cottonwood trees, were places […]

There are many community gardens in the Phoenix area. They are all used to grow food but they each one is unique. Some provide recreational space for a specific population, while some are used to grow as much food as possible to help those who do not have to eat. The physical garden spaces vary […]

Traveling north on Route 87 the views of Tonto National Forest appear pristine and beautiful. Towering saguaros pepper a land that seems to go on endlessly. It wasn’t until I ventured off of the highway onto one of the many dirt roads intersecting Tonto that the pristine landscape revealed a different truth. Gunshots can be […]

What happens in the landscape beyond the edge of human structure, where the wild and the controlled collide? In this place, we are removed from the order of the urban, but we are not yet surrounded by the wilderness. This place in-between is The Buffer Zone. The Buffer Zone is just beyond the ever-expanding sprawl […]

Agriculture at the Phoenix Indian School site has had a long history, from the ancient Hohokam canal running through the site, to farming programs at the Phoenix Indian School, and to the most recent incarnation at the PHX Renews site. Examining the history and land use of this one site over time reveals interesting tensions […]

Unwelcome is a short documentary film that focuses on the discrimination faced by individuals experiencing homelessness in Phoenix, Arizona. Title: Unwelcome – A Short Documentary on Homelessness in Phoenix, Arizona Description: Through the exploration of the downtown area of the city, the testimonies of Gary and Diane serve as an indictment on the city […]

I first met Sally at a yogurt shop. Inside, she divulged to me some of the most personal and painful periods of her life. I listened to her recall memories of poverty, a drug infested culture, years of neglect and maltreatment, multiple “father figures,” and repeated physical assaults against her. She told me about the […]